Shipping wood information

[Mike Rother]

Happy Holidays everyone.

Im back east in NJ, and my dad loaded up on a bunch of nice cherry, walnut and oak. Only catch is I need to get it back to LA. Has anyone ever shipped a load of lumber? Shipping company? Greyhound freight? It's probably at least 30 four quarter boards, 12" wide, 6' to 8' tall.

Thanks for any info

[James Tibbetts]

Regular freight carrier is gonna be the cheapest I would think. Crate it all up safe and sound so you have dimensions and weight. Most all of them will quote straight from their web site. UPS and Fedex also have freight service, but I don't know how competative they are on pricing. Let us know how it turns out. My gut feeling is that it may not be cost effective; but then I have no reference point for lumber costs in L.A. Good luck anyway! Merry Christmas!

[Malcolm Schweizer]

What you need is LTL- Less Than Load. I am not sure if LA is Louisiana or Los Angeles in your post. Either way it's no short haul. The best bet is to find a carrier in the destination city and see if they have a truck coming back from NJ. They might cut you a better deal. It needs to be strapped to a pallet. Crated is better. They will likely charge you dimensional weight. The industry standard is LxWxH/133. If that number is greater than your weight you get billed as if that was the weight. So let's say 42x24x92/133 would yield a dimensional weight of 698 pounds. If the wood weighed 400 pounds you would get charged for 698. If it weighed 700 you'd get charged actual weight.

Also try train. It's typically cheaper than truck, although they might only do full loads.

[Leigh Betsch]

I sold a motorcycle to a fella in Chicago. He had it shipped by U-Ship. Nice guy and his son picked it up, loaded it on a car trailer, no hassles at all for me. All I really had to do was drive the bike onto the trailer, and take the driver for a ride in the sidecar first! It cost him $300 to get it from South Dakota to Chicago.

[Patrick Bernardo]

Hey Mike, no answer unfortunately, but I'm curious where you got the wood? Most of the places I've found around here are pretty expensive.

[Mike Rother]

Hey Mike, no answer unfortunately, but I'm curious where you got the wood? Most of the places I've found around here are pretty expensive.

My dad has had a bunch he cut, milled and stickered years ago, and a friend of his has a sawmill up near Easton Pa.. That's the majority of it. Regardless, domestic hardwoods are much cheaper in Jersey rather than Los Angeles.

thats to everyone else for the responses. I think I will try that U-Ship site. Seems like the best option. I have a feeling when alls said and done and I tally it everything up I won't save anything...

thanks again

[Ed Griner]

Mike, when I get lumber from Groft&Groft in Lancaster they send it via UPS. Always made out great with them! Some of the planks are 3' wide.

[Patrick Bernardo]

I'd hate to see what you pay in LA! I'm in North Jersey, which is kind of a woodworking wasteland. My choices involve me driving 1 hour+ either North, South, or West to get stuff in PA, NY, or south Jersey. Even still, I feel like the prices are always on the high end of what I see quoted as 'normal.' Then I figure in the gas for my truck, and... well, you get the idea. Good luck with the shipment.